It's the Inner Reality that Counts

Prophet Muhammad said:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَنْظُرُ إِلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَأَشكالِكُمْ (او أَمْوَالِكُمْ) وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ وَأَعْمَالِكُمْ

"God doesn’t look at your forms & appearances (or wealth)*, but at your hearts & actions."

This hadith shows us that it is not the outward manifestation of a person that matters to God, but what is inside. It's not the label but the person behind it. It doesn't matter what race, nation, tribe, group or community you have had attached to you, but it's you as an individual that is important. Your behaviour, character & inner reality is the only thing that matters to God.

That includes labels like Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu or Atheist. Think about it - what do they really mean? Do they really tell you about what lies in the heart and mind of the person behind that label? No doubt, even as I mentioned those labels, certain images or stereotypes probably popped into your mind. That's what labels do. They evoke a stock image, a pigeonhole, somebody's definition. They don't tell you anything of real value about a particular individual. Worse than that they dehumanise people making it easier to hate them.

Shakespeare famously made Juliet utter the words:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Juliet's lover, Romeo was a Montague - a rival family - yet the label meant nothing to Juliet because she loved the person behind the label and so she declared that labels shouldn't matter.

Unfortunately labels do have great power. They perpetuate ignorance, create division and hostility. They become conceptual traps for our mind. When a label is mentioned we immediately access preconceived ideas, generalisations & identifiers that tell you nothing about the person. They blind us from seeing the human being, the individual. Instead we just see our prejudices.

Of course labels can be useful in making sense of a complex and bewildering universe. They are also unavoidable in a world where everyone is eager to put you in a box & slap a label on and so you are often better off choosing your own label. But we must remember that labels are neither true nor false & be aware of their dangers. Never allow them to mislead & divide us.

As Alfred Kozybski, the father of General Semantics, said:

"The map is not the territory, the name is not the thing named."

Although this seems obvious, sadly we still constantly confuse the two.

Our knowledge of the world is limited both by the human brain and human language. We are unable to directly access the reality around us because everything we know is filtered through our nervous system and then conveyed in words that are inadequate even for conveying how we perceive the experiences that come through our senses - let alone the realities behind them.

The nature, depth, structure & complexity of each man and woman is unfathomable. Each of us experiences life in a unique manner. Our perspectives are singular to us and cannot be identically shared by anyone else. 

It should be clear then, that judging others on the basis of labels is a grave error. This is especially the case when we come to labels for metaphysical beliefs.

A person may call himself a Muslim, or a Christian or a Jew or an Atheist - yet the reality behind this label is unique to them and will be quite different to the preconceptions another person has - never mind the fact that these labels themselves are open to widely different interpretations.

The more we realise how little we really know and how limited and flawed our knowledge and understanding is, the more humble, tolerant and non-judgmental we should be.

As we often say in these Khutbahs; "Religion is interaction with people," in other words it is the way you treat others that is important. It is your character, your morals, your ethics, your love and your empathy that matters, not what label we attach to ourselves, or as is more often the case; the labels that were attached to us!

For indeed most of the labels we use to identify ourselves were given to us by virtue of our birth, our parents, our society or nation. They in turn had their labels given to them and so on… They were given to us before we had the critical abilities to question them or even understand them. Or in the case of ethnic origin before we were even born!! We of course then develop an emotional attachment to our labels and they soon form part our perceived identity, our tribe, our place in the world.

When you understand this, you realise that there is neither virtue nor sin in being labelled a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Atheist or Hindu. How can a person possibly deserve either reward or punishment for subscribing to a particular label when it is largely due to where and what society he was born and the influences he had in his life. Even more than that, how can you judge them, when you don't know the reality behind this person's label. You don't know the reality that lies hidden within his heart and soul.

Not only has God created us with these limitations he also chose to keep himself hidden. He purposely created a world where there is more than enough reasonable doubt about what religion is true & whether he even exists! Had he wanted he could have made it clear beyond all reasonable doubt, but he chose not to. When we think about this we can see the only thing that matters are your actions, how you live your life, the choices you make, the good you do & the love you show. These are the only aspects of interest to a Wise & Merciful God. Not your label nor whether you believed in him or not.

The Prophet said: 

 النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم- قال: ما من شيء أثقل في الميزان من حسن الخلق

"There is nothing heavier in the scales than good character."

 إن من خياركم أحسنكم أخلاقاً

"The best of you is best in upright character"

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَنْظُرُ إِلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَأَشكالِكُمْ (او أَمْوَالِكُمْ) وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ وَأَعْمَالِكُمْ

"God doesn’t look at your forms & appearances (or wealth)*, but at your hearts & actions."

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*There are two almost identical narrations.
One says: "God does not look at your forms or appearances etc..." (اشكال)
Another says: "God does not look at your forms or wealth etc..." (اموال)